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From reading about subject complement agreement, there seems to be some contention as to whether the complement should be plural or singular. For example, both

“It is a time when teams take a look at their roster and decide whether it’s good enough to be a contender or if it’s time to start rebuilding for next season.”

and

“It is a time when teams take a look at their rosters and decide whether they're good enough to be contenders or if it’s time to start rebuilding for next season.”

seem to be grammatically correct. However, when the sentence is something like

"We have the same computer."

the consensus seems to be that "computer" should remain singular, why is this the case?

Edit: My source for the first two sentences is:https://markallenediting.com/2011/02/19/parts-of-sentences-sometimes-must-agree-to-disagree/, while my final sentence is inspired by posts like these: We have the same car vs we have the same cars

Joe Joe
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    I'm not sure this is because you are using "we have." They are wearing the same shirt. – GArthurBrown Jul 20 '21 at 02:13
  • This is how the word "same" works: see https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/same-similar-identical – Stuart F Jul 20 '21 at 12:34
  • @StuartF In the example sentence on the site, "jacket" is singular because of the "both", which acts like "each". Why should this be extended when the "both" is omitted? – Joe Joe Jul 20 '21 at 15:01
  • "We have similar computers" not "computer". – fev Jul 23 '21 at 14:19
  • Does this answer your question? "They're using a cell phone" vs. "They're using cell phones" This refers to the use of the distributive singular. I'd say that ''We both bought the same sofa!' etc shows the 'universal idea' usage. ' ... the same N' where N is singular-form is a fixed phrase in 'They / we / the twins ... both ended up with / have / bought ... the same nose / chin / dress / car ...'. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 23 '21 at 16:16
  • @EdwinAshworth from the post I get the takeaway that "We have the same computers" is the correct sentence, since each part of the subject possesses a computer, I'm not sure how having the same object can be seen as a universal idea, since in this case "same" is being used as an adjective. – Joe Joe Jul 24 '21 at 00:49

1 Answers1

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In the third sentence "We have the same computer", the object being compared (computer) is the same. That is why the object is singular.

In contrast, if the object being compared is not the same, a plural noun is used i.e. we have different computers.

In the first sentence, the teams may have one rooster due to which the object is singular. The teams may have more than one rooster due to which the object is plural in the second sentence. There is no comparison in the first two sentences so the subject complement agreement is straightforward.

Syed Danish Anwar
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    No. OP's "We have the same computer." shows the use of the distributive singular. "We have the same computer ... a ZX Spectrum." – Edwin Ashworth Jul 23 '21 at 16:08